A very belated New Recipe Night post

[sabotabby]

I meant to post this about two weeks ago. Oh well. Stay tuned for recipes and proper names.

The Menu
Spicy salad-J
Bean and rice salad-other J
Hummus and bread-captainmushroom
Green beans and tofu-zingerella
Irish stew-mycrazyhair
Stuffed eggplant-J again
Tofu makhani-sabotabby

















Tofu Makhani
This is the epic recipe of epicness. It takes like 3 hours and I stole it from revolution_grrl's Chicken Makhani.

Ingredients:
A block of tofu. I'd use two blocks next time, or better yet, paneer.
3 tbs vegetable oil

Marinade:
3 large fresh red chiles, seeded and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp toasted cumin seeds, crushed
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro leaves
4 tbs lemon juice
5/8 cup plain yogurt (this is one of the keys to the meal - use Greek yogurt)

Sauce:
3 lbs ripe tomatoes, quartered
4 tbs butter
5/8 cup heavy cream
salt

To garnish:
1 tbs heavy cream
sprigs of fresh cilantro

Start by making the marinade. Place the chiles, garlic, and cumin seeds in a blender or food processor and blend before adding the remaining ingredients and blending to produce a paste.

Transfer the marinade to a non-metallic bowl. Add the tofu to the marinade, turning to coat all pieces evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 3 hours.

Prepare the sauce while the tofu is marinating. Put the tomatoes in a large saucepan and cook gently, with no added water, for about 20 minutes, or until they are tender. Then rub them through a fine strainer into a clean saucepan. Simmer the tomato pulp, stirring occasionally, for about 50 minutes, until it is thick and reduced.

Stir in the butter and a little salt and cook the sauce over a medium heat, stirring often, for a further 30 minutes, until it is thick. Stir in the cream and heat it through. Taste and adjust the amount of salt if necessary and set the sauce aside.

Heat the oil in a large heavy-bottomed saute pan. Remove the tofu pieces from their marinade, reserving the marinade, and fry gently to seal them, about 5 minutes. Add the marinade to the pan, increase the heat and cook, stirring frequently, for a further 12 minutes, or until the tofu is cooked through.

Reduce the heat and pour the tomato sauce over the tofu. Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes. Transfer the tofu to a serving dish and garnish with a swirl of cream and a few cilantro sprigs.

BONUS: GEORGIAN WINE!!!11one!!